Maximize your LGBT networking at ITBIGLTA
Going to Berlin for ITB 2015? Be sure to stop by the IGLTA stand in the Gay & Lesbian Travel Pavilion (Hall 3.1, Stand 204) and plan on joining our members from around the globe for the following networking receptions:

On 4 March, 11am-12:30pm, the City of Athens Convention & Visitors Bureau will sponsor the Gay & Lesbian Media Networking Brunch, which connects media outlets/bloggers with tourism professionals. The Gay & Lesbian Tourism Panel on 6 March features an introductory presentation from Matt Skallerud of Pink Banana Media and a panel composed of IGLTA members from three continents. Click here for more details.More

Small business spotlightIGLTA
This recurring eNews feature celebrates the small business members of our association. It was through the forward-thinking of a small group of guesthouse owners and travel agents that IGLTA was created in 1983. The recently opened Papagayo Beach & Design Hotel is located in the well-known Jan Thiel region of Curacao, on the beach directly adjacent to Papagayo Beach Club. GoBeyond is a Berlin-based, lesbian-owned travel agency and tour operator taking lesbians on fabulous and affordable vacations to destinations worldwide.
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Sacré bleu! 'Queernaval' set to launch in Nice, FranceGay Star News
Fluff up your feathers, stock up on glitter and get that headdress sorted — a new gay and lesbian carnival, or 'Queernaval,' is to launch in Nice, France, this year.
The free event will take place in the sunshine city on the 27 February, with a burlesque procession passing through the streets of Nice Old Town.
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US appoints 1st ever special envoy for LGBT rightsNPR
For the first time ever, the United States has appointed a Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBT Persons.
In a statement, Secretary of State John Kerry said Randy Berry's job will be to "reaffirm the universal human rights of all persons, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity."More

Finland president signs gay marriage law — couples will have to wait to get married until 2017Gay Star News
Finland's president has signed the same-sex marriage bill into law, but couples will have to wait until 2017 to get married.
President Sauli Niinistö confirmed the new law that will make marriage gender neutral will come into force on 1 March 2017. This is the first piece of legislation that has been brought to Parliament by the public, under the citizens' initiative, and approved as the law of the land. More

Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade to find a new path into city partyThe Sydney Morning Herald
Sydney's gay and lesbian community may be marching in another direction from 2018 with plans under way to change the route of the Mardi Gras parade.
Under one scenario the parade would start at Taylor Square and travel along Oxford Street into the city, says the chief executive of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Michael Rolik.
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Celebrities defend gay rights in GhanaBBC News
Ghanaian celebrities have taken to social media to condemn the beating of a suspected gay man, opening a rare window for debate on homosexuality in a country where gay sex is illegal.
A video circulated on social media showing a famous music promoter, nicknamed "Kinto" being beaten and threatened by an angry mob. Police have made an arrest and say Kinto was "framed" according to reports. More

Tunisia, discrete battle for LGBT rightsAnsa Med
A 50 year-old Swedish citizen was recently sentenced to serve two years in jail for engaging in homosexual acts on the basis of art 230 of the Tunisian penal code which states: "Male homosexual acts (liwat) and female ones (mousahaqa) are to be punished with a detention period of up to three years". The provision has been criticized for its generic nature, a characteristic that — lawyer Giorgio Bianco told ANSAmed — by encompassing a wide variety of sanctionable actions on the one hand, offers, on the other, a scope of possibilities to the technical-judicial defense. In fact, the only way to punish one or more of the accused is to catch them in the act.More

Nepal's push for gay marriage gives hope to other minoritiesReuters via The Huffington Post
When Nepali transgender Bhakti Shah married almost a decade ago, his dream of being able to walk openly, hand in hand with his wife, through the narrow streets of Kathmandu, Nepal, seemed close to impossible to fulfill.
Married in a small Hindu temple with little fanfare and a handful of well-wishers, the couple were ostracized by their families and their community because of Shah's sexual orientation and have endured years of discrimination.More

Northern Ireland's anti-gay amendment branded as a 'licence to discriminate'International Business Times
The Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland's anti-gay clause attacked by Sinn Fein and Equality Commission.
The DUP is seeking to add an anti-gay clause to equality laws that would allow businesses to refuse service to LGBT people. Feedback on the anti-gay amendment takes place on 27 February.More

'The Imitation Game' spurs petition to pardon 49,000 prosecuted gay menPBS NewsHour
"The Imitation Game" has prompted more than just awards and acclaim. In light of the buzz surrounding the movie, a petition to pardon 49,000 men convicted in Britain for being homosexual is picking up momentum. The family of Alan Turing — the codebreaker whose story is at the heart of "The Imitation Game," and who was one of those prosecuted for being gay — brought the petition to British Prime Minister David Cameron. More